Polity OF POST Mauryan Period- Sungas AND Kanvas

POLITY OF POST MAURYAN PERIOD: SUNGAS AND KANVAS

Ashoka's death appears to have marked the beginning of the Mauryan empire's demise. No

evidence of Mauryan rule after the great emperor can be found in Kalinga or the south.

Pushyamitra Sunga, the dynasty's last ruler, assassinated Brihadratha in 185 B.C. When he

died, he established the Sunga dynasty, which reigned for about a century. It is said that

Pushyamitra performed the ashvamedha sacrifice, which suggests that it was revived for

political reasons after a long pause. Brahmanical revival at the expense of Buddhism is not

necessarily the case. As far south as the Narmada River, the Sunga territories included the

Ganga Valley and northern India. Greek invaders from Bactria entered the Indian plains and

forced Pushyamitra to defend his lands. While he had some success, he was unable to get as

far as Mathura because the area was already overrun. As a Greek ambassador in the 2nd

century BC, Heliodorus set up an impressive statue of Garuda in the city of Besnagar, which

is located just north of Vidisha. He was a devotee of the Bhagavata religion, and the current

ruler (Bhagabhadra), who may have been from the Sunga dynasty, is mentioned in the

inscription. According to legend, Vasudeva, the dynasty's brahmana minister who is said to

have been behind the assassination, founded the short-lived Kanva dynasty in 73 B.C. after

the assassination.

Magadha was a shadow of its former self under the Sungas and Kanvas. The Deccan and

southern India had become the new battlegrounds. Tribal or Gana-sangha polities, which

had been subsumed under the Mauryan empire, resurfaced in the ancient Punjab and the

adjoining territories.. Many of the major communities, including the Audambaras,

Arjunayana, Yaudheyas, Kunindas, and Malavas, issued coins bearing the name of the Gana,

indicating their egalitarian nature. Despite the Gana-sangha tradition's continued existence,

these communities underwent internal change. Archaeological and numismatic evidence

supports this claim. Several late Yaudheya coins were issued in the name of an executive

council known as the Gana and Mantradharas, indicating the presence of an administrative

hierarchy. Similarly, we see terms like maharaja and mahasenapati by the end of the time

period under discussion, which suggests that the monarchy may have been established by

this time. Trade routes from Mathura to Taxila and beyond may have passed through their

lands, allowing goods, ideas, and people from all over the world to flow through. Political

institutions in the countries that were affected by these influences changed.

Ancient India (HSB654)